Toothbrush



Jan. 5, 1943. N. J. DAVIDSYON TOOTHBRUSH Filed Feb. 17, 1941 INVENTOR. BY NLLDHV DEUN 922 7 Patented. Jan. 5, 1943 RUSH Nathan J. Davidson, Des Moinea lowa Application February 17, 1941, Serial No. 379,194.

1 ()lalnr. (Cl. -167) The principal object of my invention is to pro vide a tooth brush of novel construction wherein the same facilitates the receiving and successful holding of a dentifrice such as powder dentifrice, liquid dentifrice, and paste dentifrice.

More specifically, the object of my invention is to provide a tooth brush having a centrally located receiving area within the bristles and into which the powder or other dentifrice may be easily, quickly and conveniently poured.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tooth brush of novel construction, that is easily washed, and kept in a sanitary condition, economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art;

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom view of the main portion of. my tooth brush ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of my brush taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of my tooth brush taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and more fully illustrates it construction.

The use of powder or granular dentifrices on tooth brushes is being used more extensively-as time goes on. While powder or granular dentifrices is without doubt the best type of dentifrice to use, it is exceptionally diflicult to putonto a tooth brush. If the dentifrice is poured onto the bristles ofan ordinary tooth brush it falls off and much of it is therefore wasted. It is impossible to bank and mount a powder dentifrice on a tooth brush as required by most users. Another method of applying the powder dentifrice to the tooth brush is to pour a quantity of the dentifrice in the palm of the hand, wet the tooth brush, and attempt to work the dentifrice intothe bristles before brushing the teeth. Obviously, this is mussy and unsanitary and undesirable. I have overcome such disadvantages as will be hereinafter appreciated.

Referring to the drawing, I have used the numeral ID to designate the handle portion of an ordinary tooth brush having the head portion I l. The numeral l2 designates a well formed in the bottom of the head portion l l as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral l3 designates a plurality of bristles protruding from the bottom of the head portion II and surrounding the centrally located well I2 as shown in Fig. 1. By this construction, there is a row of bristles completely surrounding the well l2 and these bristles that surround the well l2 .extend at right angles from the head II and provide an enlarged opening with the mass of ly and be received and held by the well I2. As

the surrounding bristles provide also a compartment above the well l2, this central portion of the tooth brush may be filled with the powder to the top of the bristles. Such a tooth brush, therefore, provides a maximum area for receiving and holding the powder dentifrice. Obviouslyduring the pouring of the dentifrice into this'provided space, the tooth brush is held so that the bristles extend upwardly as shown in Fig.. 2.

The surrounding bristles as well as the well l2 will successfully hold this ample amount of powder dentifrice until the brush is within the mouth of the user. By such a constructed brush, a great amount of powder dentifrice may be placed in the tooth brush and very little, if any, powder dentifrice will be spilled or wasted. With my tooth brush, it is not necessary forthe brush to be previously dampened nor for any of the dentifrice to touch and soil the hands of the user. The dentifrice will be -successfully held in the tooth brush and will not spill out during the time period the brush is placed within the mouth of the user. Due to the successful retaining of the dentifrice during this operation, the dentifrice will not fall and soil the lips, chin or clothing of theuser. Due to the great amount of dentifrice that my tooth brush is capable of initially holding, a single subjecting of the tooth brush to the dentifrice is 'suflicient for a complete brushing of the teeth. 7

From the above, it will readily be seen that by the use of my tooth brush, powder dentifrice may be used easily and quickly without waste or muss. My brush makes for the economic use of dentifrices and the successful cleansing of the teeth in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of effort.

'Due to the fact that an open 'area'is provided in the center portion of the bristle portion, the brush is easily washed and can be kept in a sanitary condition after use. In the manufacture of the brush, the tufts or bristles surrounding the' well l2 should be sufllclently close together as to provide a suitable holding means for the den-' by placing a quantity of the paste within the opening in the bristles and the well I2. In the place of liquid dentifrices, the construction of my brush makes it a tooth brush that will successfully handle such dentifrices. The liquid is poured downwardly into the tooth brush and the well I2 is filled with this liquid. By such a constructed tooth brush, a suitable amount of liquid will be retained by the brush until it is within the mouth of the user; By'the well- I! being closed at all points except itstop, it will have a tendency to hold the dentifrice, regardless of the type of the dentifrice, by suction. Another advantage of my brush is that it will, for a considerable length of time, keep furnishing dentifrice to the ends of the bristles during the brushing process,

which is not true in case of ordinary tooth brushes where the dentifrice is merely placed initially on the outer end portions of the bristles.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved toothv brush construction and method of retaining a dentifrice therein without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified;

forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

In a toothbrush: an elongated head portionv -generally' concaveon that face from which the I bristles protrude, a well'extending inwardly from .said concave face into but not through said head this particular area to provide" a. substantial opening for the reception of dentifrice, those bristles whichbound the well being sufflciently adjacent one another, however, to form a sub- 7 stantial confinement.

NATHAN J. DAVIDSON. 

